It’s time for Channel Nine to get serious about the NRL

Freddy is like an overgrown jock who peaked in high school and coasted on his footy talent. Fair play, he was a great footballer, but his Easts bias in commentary is ridiculous! He'd be better off concentrating on his coaching gigs full-time, where he can actually do some good and his blatant biases aren't a factor.

Even three years later, Nine's NRL coverage is a joke! The Broncos are spoonfed Thursday and Friday night games because they rate like crazy, creating an uneven competition. "unsexy" teams like Canberra or the Warriors are lucky to get a handful of FTA games. The NRL Footy Show is an overhyped joke. Their commentators are biased (you could hear Gus Gould cheering as Jennings scored the winning try for NSW in Origin III), and "matey" commentators like Freddy and Joey are more interested in one-upping each other than talking footy. Ray Hadley is just woeful. To be fair, they do have live Sunday footy, abolished the awful Friday night double-header and Yvonne Sampson is wonderful. The biggest problem is Origin. Yes it rates through the roof on Wednesday nights, but Origin-heavy teams are punished by having to field substandard teams in the pre-Origin rounds. If you moved Origin back to Sunday nights (with a few lead up rep games to pad the weekend out), that problem would be fixed. The only time Nine puts in any effort aside from Origin is the finals, with all games live. FOX is much better; Vossy is back and is a brilliant, unbiased commentator. The ex-player brigade actually calls footy rather than reminiscing about the old days and making stupid jokes. It's wonderful to see Matty Johns back on Fox after Nine dumped him. The friendly sledging between JT and Hindy after a Cowboys Monday night game is marvellous. Two good mates taking the piss out of each other.

The qld origin commentary team should hold their heads in shame for not sticking up for the worst decision in origin history. No one stood up for the team and we only saw nsw commentators celebrating a cheating victory. Shame on our commentators on not standing up for our boys.

brad fittler should not be allowed to commentate on tv as he is useless and he obviously is a one eyed rooster supporter. bloody refs are hopeless cant make a decision,maybe they should get them seeing eye digs

Not only that Joe. Bra Filler is semi-literate (I seen this, won't do nothin' about it, etc.), his attempts at humour pathetic - Johns not much better. Classic Filler, "Go Co muscore lotter poys sen alf".

Gee I am sick of the Channel 9 NRL initial coverage. The first 20 minutes includes a supposed insight by Johns and Fittler. Neither is good and they delay the 2nd Friday night game by 20 minutes. Gus and Sterlo could do a good job in 5-6 minutes and not suffer listeners to the opinions of Johns and Fittler. Can't we do without these 2 timewasters?

The most annoying thing about Ray is his constant comments about upcoming 9 shows instead of sticking to the football

I was once a fanatical Bulldogs supporter. When Super Leage started and they were a part of it, I gave away footy for years. Last weekend was the start of the finals, excitement plus time. However, after one of the most pathetic and amateurish performances by officials and officialdom, . . . I'll see how I feel when I calm down . . . but at the moment I feel it's ''good-bye to footy'' time once again.

You are all right in what u say but my gripe about it is the commentators how bad they are one sided .. U can tell they like a certain team and there is one person u forgot to mention and he is so boring and hard to listen to is Peter Sterling .. He has no idea how to commentate a game but says it as he would have played it ..

For Heaven's sake Ch 9 (or for the people's sake really) when are you going to admit your catastrophic mistake and get rid of Ray Hadley ? Started to watch the replay of the game between Parra and Broncos but had to walk away. He is a moron by himself, but when he is paired up with Vautin they both seem to try and outdo themselves and each other with their ridiculous carry on. I know this has been going on for ages, but for all our sakes, BRING BACK VOSSY.

+1

Classic FAIL FAIL FAIL case yesterday's Brisbane Broncos V NZ Warriors - FAILURE because of not being live. At 5.58 p.m. Parker lines up for penalty goal which, if successful, will level the scores and put match into that ridiculous Golden Point. However,, there is NO TIME for Golden Point - News on at 6. Therefore - SUSPENSE FACTOR ZERO!! Actually, anyone with one top lip knew at about 5.40 p.m. the match would not go to Golden Point - no time. ALL TV MUST BE LIVE. 2 hours to show 80 minutes (realistically around 60 minutes) of Rugby League is an absolute joke. I have passed this on to Phil Gould and Co on numerous occasions and suggested they announce "IF GOLDEN POINT - NEWS WILL NOT COMMENCE UNTIL NRL CONCLUDED". They just don't seem to get it!

Last nights Bet.com story on Four Corners goes along way to explain what Channel Nine and the NRL are orchestrating. Every club, every broadcaster and the NRL gain revenue from the explosion of Bet.com sponsorship. It has directly led to more sportstalk on radio and television. The NRL assisted by removing day games from the NRL draw. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday night games suit the Bet.com companies and Fox Sports who also gain revenue from them. Remember children can't gamble so they offer no value to these companies. No NRL fan likes the second game on Friday night, the 9:30pm broadcast game on Saturday, the 6:30pm game on Sunday or the 7pm Monday game but the Bet.com's love them and as a result so do the NRL, Nine and Fox. Reduced crowds are a bonus for the Bet.com's because it means they are at home on their smart everything gambling. Their next step is to gain authority to allow live Bet.com betting during the game. Their tact will be they they are the best organisations to assist with problem gambling just like the Clubs Association spruiks with Poker machines. It really is all a load of you know what.

I hang-out big time for Friday night and Sunday arvos. But a Sat night would be awesome. Even if it was delayed to say 8:30 or 9:00. But FOX will probably crack it. As for Ch.9's coverage itself, I think it could inject alot more graphics on the screen with animations and links to your mobile or something. The background of the panel should not be empty stadiums but 6ft monitors with graphics going off constantly behind them with stats etc and cater them for the 3D owners. At present it looks ok but cheap. Keep Freddy coz he's funny but lose Wally. He is a cliche. Bring in Dan Ginnane. That guys is awesome on the radio and even Maroon (formerly of MMM). He is the reason I love Monday night footy on the radio.

Good article. with respect to Ray Warren, I was happy to hear in some ways about his illness, we would finally have some new blood in the box! But like Richie he is not going to retire until someone pushes him. Ray Warren lost me the minute he said "We" in regards to NSW during an origin game. The main caller should be neutral and above bias. His Manly fixation is painful too. His old married couple act with Phil Gould is a joke. Wally Lewis is a legend and a decent guy, but he states the obvious all the time and his two catch phrases, so and so "gonna cash in" on what ever, or one team is going to "dictate terms" to the opposition are annoying. Ray Hadley is an ok caller, but his "acting half" and "wing 3 quarter" are stupid. have the new commission gone politically correct? no more dummy halves, or hookers? Vossy was my favourite but he got dumped for political reasons at 9. If I were to revamp the Channel 9 coverage, I would keep Lockyer, Wally, Sterlo, and Hadley. Dump the rest. Rehire Voss or get someone new too main call the other game. Give us 4 games a week, 2 on a Friday(one live, one delayed), 1 Saturday delayed, and one live sunday night. All in HD, and that gives Fox and Nine a 50/50 split in the 8 games.

The thing that annoys me most is the scheduling. I mean how much FTA games can the tigers get. They've got more than the Broncos who also have way too many FTA games but at least they compete against teams and rate high. Tigers are wooden spoon bound and we have to see a million of their woeful rubbish. What is nines love for the Tigers?

+1 ~ Fittler doesn't make any sense when he talks. It's like he's on some medication that halts intelligence while proliferating nonsense. Ray Warren & Gus Gould likewise, except they do it naturally without the med's.

Has there been a response by Channel 9 yet?

It's nuts. A complete lack of vision. They are like the plugs on a leaking ship. Except when they look around, there is no ship and the water has already drained.

You're right about Wally. Absolutely zero insight in his commentary. Like I've said before, he is a soundbite gone wrong. I don't mind Phil Gould's analysis but the problem with him, like Hadley, is that he comes across as having no humour... or humility. He always looks grumpy and arrogant. If Gould only spoke tactics and strategy, I don't think there would be any issues with him. The only person who deserves to remain in that commentary box is Peter Sterling.